John Carson

The Carson House was built by John Carson, who emigrated from Ireland in 1773 and made his way to the western North Carolina frontier in search of land and opportunity. Carson married into the McDowell family, became a farmer and enslaver, speculated in land, ran a stagecoach stop and inn, and mined for gold on his way to becoming one of the area’s most prominent citizens. When McDowell County was formed in 1842, his home served as the county seat until a proper courthouse could be built in Marion.